Critical Role - Stay
by TheKarin
Summary: (Spoiler Heavy Percy Oneshot) Begins right as Ripley's last shot fires.


_KRACK_

 __The sound of air being violently torn through by a bullet blended together with the sudden wild flapping of wings, stirring Percy from his unconscious state, eyes popping open only to be instantly blinded by the brightest sun he had ever experienced. Reaching an arm up to shield his eyes, it took a moment for him to realize that there was no ache within the limb he moved. Moments ago his fingers had burned, his wrist had been sore, but now..nothing. He pulled his hand away from his face with a confused frown, staring at his immaculate palm and giving each finger a flexing move. More than that, the longer he lay there the more he realized that the soreness and pain of repeated bullet wounds was now completely gone.

Sitting up slowly, hesitantly, he took a glance around. His friends were gone. Ripley was gone. The charred ground, burning trees and floating embers, all gone. In it's place seemed to be an endless field of flowers in such a multitude of colour that he almost felt sick to his stomach from the sight. They shifted and swayed with the wind, bringing the scent of wildflowers to his lungs where there was once gunpowder, blood and burning wood. The sky was impossibly blue, that shining sun casting everything in a vibrant glow and warming up his body from head to toe. But instead of enjoying this beautiful scenery, there was only a single question currently rampaging through his brain. _Where are my friends?_

All at once the memory returned. The island, Ripley, the box, the explosion, Ripley, Orthax, his friends fighting, falling, fighting. Grabbing his chest, he doubled in on himself and coughed, the pain of that final shot from Ripley's pepperbox shooting through him again, taking with it all the warmth the sun overhead provided. Cold. Empty. Dead.

 _Dead?_

He lifted his head slowly, staring at the flowers still blowing in the wind, up to the sky with the glowing sun overhead. Peaceful. Quiet. Alone. He couldn't bring himself to feel anything. Not sadness for his life, no worry for whether or not his friends were okay, not even peace now that the pain had subsided. There was nothing. Was this really what death felt like?

 _"Percival."_

A voice so soft but loud at the same time seemed to speak directly into Percy's mind. It's tone deep, peaceful, familiar. Eyes widening, he whipped his head around, searching, desperate. A hundred yards away, far off through that field of flowers on top of what looked like a pleasantly grassy hill, he could see two figures. They were standing side by side, one significantly taller than the other, with broader shoulders while the smaller had a thin and feminine frame. Though they were silhouetted by the blinding light of the sun, Percy recognized those forms as if they had been burned into the back of his eyelids since birth.  
In a frenzy of movement he stood, joints stiff from laying prone for so long, the beat of his heart a desperate pounding that he could hear in his ears. He began to stomp through the flowers towards the silhouettes of his parents like a man possessed. Sweat beading at his temples as years of longing burned through him. He needed to see the faces of his mother and father again, more than anything in the world. As he drew near the large hill the two figures were standing upon, he stumbled and dropped to his knee at one point, paying no mind to the fact that no pain accompanied the sharp impact. Every movement seemed sluggish and slow, but his determination to reach them kept him going. Just a bit more. _Mom. Dad._

 _ **"Percy! No!"**_

Before his foot touched the grass of the massive hill, a piercing scream shot through his entire skull. And with it a pain so intense that he collapsed to both knees and clutched his chest, digging his fingers into the fabric of his chest as if needing to rip it out in order to draw another breath. The sound was coming from behind him, and when he somehow managed to open his eyes through the blinding pain coursing through every muscle in his body, breath rushed from his lungs at the new sight that occupied that endless field of flowers.

Vex stood like a beacon amongst the drifting petals rushing through the wind, her dark hair flying wildly and tears streaming down her curved cheeks as she screamed so sharply that the sockets of his eyes burned. Bow in hand, she was taking on the motion of firing multiple arrows from her bow in one shot, but her movements were in slow-mo, the sound of her cry trailing off into a buzz that continued to reverberate through his skull as more images manifested in the field. Moving just as slow, almost at a standstill, Keyleth appeared a short distance from Vex, hand outstretched in a desperate motion as the air vibrated from her fingers, a wave of cracking thunder pulsing off of her hand in the same direction as the arrows. The sound of it in this slowed state was like a hum in his ears, but it was the redhead's heartbreaking sob that accompanied it that brought pain to Percy's chest so acute he felt moisture spilling down his face. All at once, several more figures burst into view within this line of attack. A massive dark shape made of smoke towering over Vax's furiously swinging form, twin daggers in his hands as his slow moving body brought them up towards the beast's side. A smaller, cowering form of a familiar young man sitting on his behind between it all, head in hands and staring forward with a horrified expression at something on the ground infront of him. At the right, standing on air over the hole in the ground and looking completely disconnected to the current fight, stood a tiny gnomeish female with shining blonde hair, staring into the distance with a startled look of horror on her round little face as she clutched a hand to her chest, the pendant around her neck glowing like a beacon. Off in the distance behind the screaming elves, but still close enough for Percy to see clear as day, was Grog and Scanlan. A bloodboiling rage filling the Goliath's eyes as he charged forward towards a very large sphere that Scanlan seemed to be controlling. An empty look in his eyes that had taken Percy aback for a moment. The normally jovial gnome looked at least 30 years older than he normally did, and the coldness of his stare was enough to send a chill down his own spine. And within that sphere…

 _Ripley._

Staggering to his feet, Percy fought to draw in air, moving like a man possessed towards the carnage within the field. Only stopping short when he remembered the image of his parents upon that hill. When he looked back, they were still there, standing side by side. Waiting for him. But his legs couldn't move. His heart beat faster, the blood pumping through his system making him feel like his skin was on fire. Torn between two options, two desires. Years of his life had been dedicated towards the memory of his parents, but at the same time his friends were fighting for him,fighting his battles, and losing. Past versus future. Wants versus needs. Now that sensation had been restored to his body, the aches and pains of battle were more present now than ever before. His heart ached, the pain of it practically leaking from the bullet wounds on his chest. But with the screams and sounds of violence booming louder still, Percy took one last look over to the grassy hill where his parents stood. Stared at the two silhouettes for as long as he could, a bittersweet ache settling in his chest while his mind steeled with new purpose, and finally turned back to the field.

When he took a step forward, he stopped short when realization hit. The sound had faded, the images of his friends had disappeared, and standing a little ways away, hand outstretched, was Pike. The tiny female had a hand around the pendant adorning her neck, the symbol of Sarenrae glowing brighter still. Her entire being seemed to be glowing various shades of white and yellow, a massive sun-like figure looming behind her that bore no features whatsoever. But Percy didn't need to see it's face to know what that being was. Taking his eyes back down to his cleric friend, he found her staring right back at him, tears dotting her eyelashes and her freehand stretching out to him. Palm up.

Waiting.

For some reason that sad, pleading look on her face brought a smile to his lips. If the others had somehow found their way to Pike, or if she had found them, then his fate was more or less sealed. There would be no peaceful field of flowers for Percy. He couldn't simply abandon his living family to rejoin his dead ones. _This was where he needed to stay._

Percy had been taking steps forward before he even realized it. And when he was close enough, a shaky hand stretched out to take hold of Pike's as the gnomeish female finally smiled. Encompassing both of them in a light so vibrant all he could do was close his eyes and let it take him forward.

-end-


End file.
